Military Sea Hawkers

The military chapter of the official booster club of the Seattle Seahawks

Down 17 at Halftime, Seahawks Pull Off Overtime Win

If that was a championship preview like Houston Texans safety Ed Reed suggested, we are in for one of the most exciting Super Bowl games in history.

After falling behind to the Texans in the first half, down 20-3 the Seahawks defense completely shut out Houston in the second half. This was a game that had just about everything (except maybe some first-half offense). There were at least five plays worth watching over and over. Here they are in order, with links included for your viewing enjoyment:

1) To start the game, Marshawn Lynch had another one of his signature “Beast Mode” runs going 43 yards on a carry from the Seahawks 2-yard line.

2) Earl Thomas picked up his second interception of the season. He made a shoestring catch after about four different Seahawks players tipped the ball in the air. Thomas is looking like a turnover-causing machine this season.

3) Doug Baldwin pulls down an incredible 24-yard catch on third down on a play officials had said he caught out of bounds. After a challenge by coach Pete Carroll, the replay showed Baldwin getting both feet down. It was a key play in Seattle’s 99-yard drive for their only offensive touchdown of the game: a pitch to Lynch where he essentially walked in for a 3-yard score.

4) Texans quarterback Matt Schaub is taking a ton of heat from Houston fans for trying to force a pass in to his tight end on third down with less than three minutes to play in the game. Instead of taking throwing it away and punting the ball, Richard Sherman made Schaub pay for floating up a pass that he snatched away from Owen Daniels to run back for a shoeless 58-yard score.

5) Finally, Steven Hauschka kicked a 45-yard field goal through the uprights to win the game in overtime. The kick sealed the 2013 Seahawks as the first team in franchise history to go 4-0 to start the season.

There was one scary moment toward the end of the first half as defensive end Michael Bennett had his head and back bent backward. Bennett was carried off on a stretcher, but reports after the game said it wasn’t a major injury.

Kam Chancellor tweeted after the game, “Thank you 12s for always believing in us until the clock says Zero. If it’s our mindset it should be yours.”

It may have been a jab at some Seahawks fans who clearly thought there was no coming back in the second half. This Seattle team clearly isn’t the same type of team where you could predict their second-half success based on first-half performance. See the playoff game against the Falcons last season for more evidence.

Hopefully this is the last time this team has to prove to fans they have the ability to turn things around at halftime. If nothing else, it proves that it’s okay for fans to have that type of confidence.

Looking at the first four games of the season, it’s interesting that we’ve seen the defense hold a team scoreless in one half of each game. At home, they’ve held the 49ers and Jaguars scoreless in the first half, and on the road they’ve shut out the Texans and Panthers in the second half.

We are watching a special team. As evidence, and mentioned previously, the Seahawks are now 4-0 for the first time in team history. The win maintains a two-game lead over the 2-2 San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals.

Next week they have another difficult matchup against an Indianapolis team coming off a 37-3 win in Jacksonville and a 27-7 win in San Francisco.

Prior to the two dominant road wins, the Colts struggled to beat the Raiders in Indianapolis in Week 1, and lost 24-20 to the Miami Dolphins the following week. Despite trading for Trent Richardson, the Colts still haven’t had a game with a 100-yard rusher.

After watching the Falcons lose at home to the Patriots, this game against the Colts might just be the most difficult road game left on the schedule. If the Seahawks can continue to find a way to win on the road, we’re in for an incredibly exciting season.